A Long and Winding Road
by Calvin Fitzgerald
Summary: A young rebel is on trial for an unknown crime.
1. Default Chapter

"We recieved the news exactly one week after the battle of Endor. As my prior instructions indicated I assemblied the troops under my command and prepared to link up the main rebel fleet." Cronin cleared his throat and reached for the glass of water that sat in front of him.   
He was seated behind a podium in a small circular room. In front of him sat the members of an Imperial Court. Although most rebels would have you think that justice had no place in the Empire, most Imperials understood that it did. Lady Justice still played an integral role in the day to day lives of most ordinary citizens.  
"Go on, Captain Cronin," said the judge sitting directly in front of him. He wore a black gray suit draped with a black cape. The judges white hair had been slicked back, that combined with the high cheek bones gave him the look of nobility.  
Cronin nodded at the head judge and began his story in earnest. It was a difficult one to tell, but in order to save his own life, Cronin had been forced to explain to a great number of powerfull Imperials. Several times Cronin was forced to stop and choke back tears. It may sound melodramatic but Cronin was betraying everything he had once held sacred; just to save his own hide.  
As he concluded the silence of the room was broken by only a few coughs. The head judge frowned and asked Cronin, "Is that all Captain?"  
Cronin nodded glumly. "Yes sir, that is it."  
The head judged seemed to explode with life and activity. He stood quickly and in a booming voice, that echoed through out the small circular room, pronounced Cronin guilty of treason, attempted overthrowing of a soveriegn government, and high crimes against the state. Cronin sank in his chair as the last remnants of the judges voice slowly faded from his mind.   
He watched in disbelief as the judges stood, none looking directly at him, and walked out of the room. As soon as the last one of them had walked out a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers marched in, their feet drumming out a death beat. The Stormtrooper in charge grabbed Cronin and with the help of another dragged him out of the room.  
The head judge was waiting in the cold metallic corridor next to the door. He smiled cruelly when he saw Cronin's distraught face. "I was disappointed you did not disclose all the information available to you, Captain," the judge hissed.   
From Cronin's viewpoint the man seemed to stand seven feet tall and had developed all of the intimidation skills of Lord Vader in a mere five minutes. Still Cronin did not speak. The judge ignored Cronin's silence and continued to stare menacingly at the handcuffed traitor for a few more minutes.   
"You could have saved yourself, although now I am afraid you will be executed. Such a pity," the judge spit out the last sentence. "But you were not a total waste my friend. Several of your cohorts have been rounded up, they will die just as slowly and painfully as you. How unfortunate." The judges face became that of a very amused predator.   
Cronin suddenly went white. He had never ment for his comrades to become captured. That was why he had changed many of the details in his story to protect his friends. This was horrible news. Not only had he failed in saving his own life several of his friends would die because of him.   
The judge continued to smile. "You just think about that. You will soon have plenty of time to think, or whatever rebels do when they die."  
  
Only fifteen minutes later Cronin stood erect against a wall, a cloth tied around his eyes. He waited for that last barrage of laser bolts to slam into his frail human body. And as he waited for that final stab of pain before the dark plunge into the abyss of death he reflected on the long story that got him into the situation he was in today. 


	2. The First Jump

The signs had been there but nobody had picked up on them, thus Cronin did not hear of the Emperors demise until a good full week after the battle of Endor. According to official documents the entire rebel fleet was supposedly present during that massive fight between Imperials and Rebels. This was simply not true. Admiral Ackbar and General Madine felt that several cells would stay out of the battle as sort of an insurance force. If the rebels lost at least the rebellion would not die. Cronin was the commander of one such cell.  
He was on the bridge when the encrypted holiness transmission brought back news of the Empires defeat. As per his orders, direct from General Madine himself Cronin mustered his forces a short three hours later. From his vantage point on the bridge of the rebel dreadnought Akurish Sun Cronin realized that his fleet was really just a small collection of fighters and lightly armored ships.   
Besides the Akurish Sun, which served as Cronin's flagship, there were two Marauder Corvettes, a bulk cruiser (Starfighter Carrier), a Corellian Corvette, three rebel transports and two more dreadnoughts to protect the transports. The carrier contained a mixed assortment of A-wings, X-wings, Y-wings, Z-95 Head Hunters and four captured TIE Fighters. All in all Cronin commanded ten Battle-class ships and three squanders worth of fighters, about 5,000 men.  
Cronin assembled his officers an hour before their scheduled departure from the Gunto system. He stood tall, his rebel uniform gave his shoulders a broader appearance, and muscular. "Men," he said in a grim tone. "In one hour are ships, hidden by the Hallenot Asteroid field, will make a run for open space. As soon as we reach it, we will jump to a set of coordinates that I have received from High Command."  
Cronin paused for a moment and took a deep breath. His officers, many of them were much to young, they would have been cadets in the Imperial Academies had they not been so idealistic.   
"This will not be an easy task. Even though the Empire was defeated at Endor does not mean that the Imperial Navy no longer exists. This Sector still has a sizable garrison and currently there are two Victory Star Destroyers in the system, between us and open space."  
Cronin stepped down from the rise he had been standing on. "Its going to be bloody, boys. Prepare your men the best you can and get ready to leave. Good Luck to all of you." Cronin nodded then walked out and back towards the bridge. Behind him the war room emptied of its officers. They headed in clumps towards their shuttles in the Dreadnoughts hanger.   
  
The Bridge was one of the few large open spaces on a warship. It was split level, with a rise in the back for the Captain and the other higher ups. The lower level contained the command crew and their equipment. In front of the rise was the view screen, a massive window/video screen currently displaying the space in front the Akurish Sun.   
Cronin marched towards the railing at the edge of the rise and clasped his hands behind his back. "Ensign, time until we leave?" he asked.   
"Four minutes, thirty eight seconds sir," called back Ensign Neiil from his station below. The Rebel Cell drew heavily from the surrounding systems, which were effectively devoid of native sentient life. Cronin's fleet was made up almost entirely of humans. His bridge crew was one hundred percent human. To Cronin the bridge looked like it came of an Imperial Star Destroyer.   
For four minutes and thirty eight seconds Cronin stood there, tense, on the bridge. His body was rigid and unwavering. Sweat trickled down his tan necked. He had spent time on the beautiful beaches of Burlen Minor the week before.   
"Sir, five seconds," called up the Ensign.  
"Initiate ion engines on my mark," ordered Cronin. He watched the clock display count down the last five seconds of peace Cronin was afraid he would ever have. The clock hit zero and Cronin gave the order his men had waited at least a year for. "Mark!"  
  
The fleet of ten ships came roaring out of the Asteroid field like demons escaping to Hell. Almost immediately after the ships sensors were no longer effected by the mineral content of the Asteroids klaxons began to wail.   
"Sir Imp Star Deuce, twelve klicks out," called a soldier from close to the view screen. Cronin turned to the Heads Up Display (HUD) in front of him, where the Star Destroyer was being displayed red.   
"Ensign, open the comm line to all ships. Basic encryption"  
"Aye Aye sir."  
Cronin watched as the white Star Destroyer slowly came in to view. Sithspawn, those things are big. "All ships, do not engage, fire defensive weapons only, and make for the hyperspace vector with all possible speed."  
"Ensign, transmit the coordinates for the jump to all ships."  
"Aye, Aye sir"  
Cronin turned back to the viewscreen. The Star Destroyer was getting larger and larger, now it was taking up a full quarter of the screen. The Akurish Sun shuddered as the first salvo of Imperial weapons slammed against the shields. Fires broke out at several of the computer stations and sparks fell from the ceiling. Cronin smiled grimly. May the Force be with us...cause we're gonna need it. 


	3. Fight or Flight

The battle had begun in earnest. Lasers flashed through the cold black of space, creating an amazing spectacle. Amazing yes, thought Cronin, but also deadly. His flagship, the Akurish Sun sustained yet another salvo from the Star Destroyers turbo lasers. It shuddered beneath his feet.   
"Sir, the Hunters Sight has taken a direct hit, they're falling behind. It appears they lost there main ion drive," said a young officer leaning over a console. The Hunters Sight was the Corellian Corvette and now it looked like they would be captured.   
"Ensign, make sure nobody stops to assist. Give Captain Marse my sympathies and add more power to the thrusters."  
Cronin would have liked to stop and save the ship and its crew. They couldn't afford to, unfortunatly. Any rescue attempt would take several hours and in a few minutes the second Star Destroyer in the system would be appearing to assist. Cronin glanced at the HUD, only five more minutes and they would clear the gravitational well of the asteroid field. It was looking to be a remarkably bloody five minutes.  
There was a bright flash in front of the viewscreen and a massive concussion. Cronin was blown off his feet and landed hard on the floor. When he regained his senses he tried to stand up, and found it incredible difficult to do so. He gripped one of the posts holding up the railing and tried to make out the sight in front of him.   
The bridge was covered in a hazy fog and small fires burnt on the computer stations throughout the lower deck. Most of his crew were up and stirring, but others, to many others lay in pools of their own blood. The white deck was stained red with the lifesource of Cronin's crew.   
"Status report, Status report," moaned Cronin through clenched teeth. The right side of his head felt like it was splitting open. He touched it with his hand and pulled it back when he felt warm liquid. "Sithspawn, thats worth a dip in the bacta tank," he swore. He hated the bacta tanks. Cronin took a look at the carnage below him. "I don't think I'll have to worry about surviving to use a bacta tank," he said grimly.  
"Sir, engines are still running and we will reach our jumping point in thirty seconds," said Ensign Neiil. He was bandaging a rather bloody wound on his right arm.  
"Are you alright, Ensign?" asked Cronin.  
The ensign smiled weakly, "As well as everybody else sir."  
Slowly the bridge seemed to come back to life. Emergency lights kicked on, dimly lighting the still smokey bridge. Red lights still flashed but the horns had been muted by the explosion. Cronin relinquished his death grip on the railing and tried to regain his balance.   
"Sir, we are free of the gravity well. Ready to jump?" called up Neiil. In the distance the ship rumbled as they presumably took another hit. "Jump on my mark," he ordered wiping the blood from his head. He needed a bandage, but that could wait until after they made it to hyperspace. The HUD was still down and Cronin had no idea how close the Star Destroyer was or the rest of his own fleet. There was no time for information gathering, only time for action. "Mark," he called out. The ship rumbled and then lurched into hyperspace.  
"Sir, we are officialy on our way to Endor. Congratulations," said leutanent Hirosh, he stuck out his hand. Cronin brushed it aside and pointed to the bloody wreck below. "We didn't come out unscathed leutanent."  
  
Half an hour later Cronin stood in the auxilary bridge. The main bridge had been to badly damaged in the fight to be used. His new command station was smaller, and only had one floor, but it suited his needs fine. Plus it had a chair.   
"What is our status now Ensign Gilmar?" asked Cronin, still trying to get rid of his splitting headache. His head was bandaged but it needed more medical attention and more importantly, time to heal. Unfortunatly Cronin didn't have enough of the latter to use on himself.   
"Sir, our warp drive is functioning perfectly, as are our life support systems. The bad news is that our main shield generator is down, but the back up generator is working perfectly. Both Ion drives are functioning, but our hanger has been demolished and three quarters of our turbolasers are out."  
Cronin thought for a moment. The ship was badly damaged but if they could make the rest of the journey in peace the Akurish Sun could be repaired and returned to service. At least the crew would survive. But that would depend on the rest of the journey. Any more run ins with imperials could result in the loss of the ship.   
Cronin had never truly loved anything in his life. His mother and father were killed in a series of purges just after he had been born. He was raised in an orphanage and had lived a life of solitute and loneliness until he had joined the rebellion. Now he had something he loved, a cause, and a ship. He couldn't bear to lose either, but he might have to sacrifice the ship.  
He decided there that if it came down to it, he would die with his glorious flagship. Cronin would allow his crew to escape and then go down with the ship. He would not allow anyone to die in his stead or defence. He would do it alone, and he would do it proudly.  
Then a thought came to him like a bolt of lightning. "Ensign, can you open a commlink with the other ships in the fleet?"  
"Aye, Aye sir." The ensign pressed a few buttons on the console and a list of his ships came up with their individual frequencies.  
"All ships this is Captain Cronin, report in from largest class to smallest class."  
"Sir, Rebel Dreadnaught Bilbringi fit for duty."  
"Captain Cronin, Rebel Alliance Dreadnaught Akurish Moon, fit for service."  
Next the two Maurader Corvettes checked in within seconds of each other. They were followed by all three of the rebel transports. Only one reported serious damage, The Liberty. Finaly the Howling Mynock, the bulk carrier, reported fit for duty. But one ship had not called in. Cronin waited for a full minute before continuing.  
"Corellian Corvette, Hunters Sight, check in."  
There was nothing but silence. Cronin flipped the switch to open the commlink again, this time using all available frequencies.   
"Rebel Alliance ship, Hunters Sight, report in."  
"Alliance Ship, Hunters Sight, Make contact."  
Then the comm sprang to life as a staticy voice broke through. Cronin's heart lept as he jumped to respond to the Hunters Sight's message. But it was not the Hunters Sight that radioed in, it was one of the other Dreadnaughts.  
"Sir, this is Captain Joyce of the Akurish Moon. Sir, we detected that the warp drive on the Hunters Sight failed shortly before we jumped. After scanning the ships on our course with our time of jump we could not locate the Hunters Sight. I don't believe they made it."  
"Sithspawn," Cronin was never one to hide his emotions and the loss of several hundred loyal soldiers was a sever one.  
"Yes sir, but more importantly did you send the jump coordinates to the Hunters Sight before you jumped?"  
Cronin thought for a moment, he had sent the coordinates to the Hunters Sight, but of what importance was it. What was Joyce getting at. Then it hit him like a turbolaser fired at full power.   
"The imps have our coordinates," he gasped.  
"Yes sir, I believe they do. The will most likely be already moving towards our coordinates right now," said Captain Joyce in a grim , but steady voice. Joyce was a good man and would not panic under pressure.  
"They will have a few ships at our coordinates, yes," said Cronin nodding, but something was tugging at the back of his mind. There was something he was forgetting.  
"Wait, they might have enough time to move an interdictor between us and our coordinates."  
"I believe so to sir. We need to prepare the men again." Joyce nodded sagely. "Shall I put my men on full alert?"  
"You may Captain. Prepare for an imminent attack between now and the point at which we leave hyperspace."  
Joyce nodded. "Captain Joyce out." His image flickered off the smaller viewscreen in the auxilary bridge. Cronin turned to Gilmar, who was working earnestly on the computer panels next to him. "Ensign, open a commlink to the rest of the fleet.   
"Open sir," replied Gilmar as he flipped a small metallic switch.   
"Ships of the Hallenot Rebel Fleet. It has come to my attention that Imperials have learned the coordinates of our jump. You will now go to battle level five and make emergency preperations. Be ready to be pulled out of hyperspace and into battle by one or more interdictor cruisers in the next several hours. Captain Cronin out."  
Cronin motioned to the Ensign, who quickly flipped off the commlink transmittion. "Sir, shall I order the men to their battle stations?" he asked nervously.  
"You may Ensing," replied Cronin gravely. They weren't out of the woods yet. 


	4. The Final Battle

They waited for almost a full hour before the fleet was ever so rudely ripped out of hyperspace. Cronin had spent that hour creating a strategy to save his men, always one for the tactics it didn't take long for Cronin to come up with a plan. He could only hope that when the time came it would work.  
Exactly an hour and fourteen minutes elapsed with no event. At the fifteen minute mark the Akurish Sun shuddered and lurched back into realspace. Even before Cronin orientated himself from the sudden stop enemy lasers raked against there hull.  
Cronin flipped on the commlink himself this time. The Ensign was nowhere to be seen.   
"Carrier, release your fighters," he ordered. Ahead of him lay a few small imperial ships. Cronin was surprised at the lack of response. There was only a Interdictor cruiser, a pair of Lancer Frigates and several squadrons of TIE fighters. That could only mean one thing: reinforcements were on the way.   
"All fighters head for the cruiser, and disable it if possible. Akurish Moon and Bilbringi, engage the Frigates at once."  
Cronin watched as the dreadnoughts twisted in the air and went full throttle for the two frigates. The Akurish Sun shuddered as a flaming TIE fighter slammed into the already weak shields. Sirens screamed and lights flashed. Cronin walked briskly over to the shield generator station and watched as a young officer struggled to keep it online.  
"What's the situation Capriano?" asked Cronin quietly as more of the status symbols turned from green to red. The officer grunted and toggled a few switches. Slowly green light began to reappear on the computer station. "Sir, shields should be coming back online...now!"  
A shimmering haze seemed to engulf the ship. Another salvo from one of the frigates dissipated on the new shields.  
"Sir, I was forced to reroute some energy from the ships core to the shield generator."  
"What exactly does that mean Capriano? Do we still have a forward thrust? Can we still return fire?" asked Cronin suspiciously. The shields were important, yes, but if they were forced to sacrifice something Cronin wanted to now what it was going to be.   
"Sir, we lost the power needed to fire the remaining turbolasers and proton torpedo launchers."  
"Sithspawn," Cronin spat. He wanted to be able to return fire, not just absorb it. They would be forced to withdraw from the battle. "All ships, the Akurish Sun is unable to return fire, and we are pulling back. Marauder Corvettes, you have the go ahead to engage the enemy ships. You may fire at will."  
Cronin watched as the scenes of battle faded from the viewscreen and slowly walked to the HUD. The X-wing squadron, the aptly named Interceptor Squadron engaged a flight of TIE's heading for the Akurish Sun. The A-wings were cutting up the Interdictor, destroying the shield generators and most of the turbolasers.   
The fleet status light flickered as one of the corvettes took a direct hit. Cronin watched as the light representing the corvette went from green to red. He briskly strolled over to the makeshift communications center. "What's the status on the Huntington?" he asked seriously. He already new the answer, but had to ask anyway.  
The young man working the station turned away from the numerous wires, mics, and speakers to snap a salute at Cronin. "Sir, the Huntington is no more. She took a direct hit to the core and blew, all while trying to repair their shields."  
Cronin felt like he had been punched in the stomach. The anger that had taken hold of him after the Akurish Sun retreated and the fear of the loss of his mission was replaced by a cold, hollow sensation. A crew of one hundred gone, Captain Horj Andell gone. All gone.  
"Sir, Captain Andell was a good man." The young man looked up at Cronin with sad eyes. "My brother was on that ship."  
There was absolutely nothing Cronin could say to that. He merely nodded, the cold spot feeling more and more like a black hole, sucking his innards out.   
"Sir your going to want to see this," called Gilmar from the HUD display. Cronin jogged to Gilmar's location and glanced at the status reports coming in from the other ships. One of the lancer frigates was breaking up. The interdictor cruiser was trying to disengage from the A-wing squadron, but without much success. Then something caught his eye. An Imperial Star Destroyer was slowly moving towards the battle. Its TIE bays already empty, the new fighters adding a dangerous element to the dogfights heating up the space.   
"All ships disengage and fallback at once. I repeat all ships fall back."  
Cronin stared at the HUD watching as the destroyer was slowly advancing on several of the ships. In a minute the fleet would be trapped and destroyed by the imperials. They only had one chance.   
"Gilmar, can you put the Akurish Sun between the Star Destroyer and the rest of the fleet?" he asked sharply. They had to move quickly now.   
"Sir it is possible. Do you want me to give the order."  
Cronin thought for a moment. This would be the death of his ship and most likely the end of his life. But all that matter was the bulk of his men get to Endor where they were needed. The mission came first. The mission was above all. "Give the order Ensign, then prepare to abandon ship."  
The Akurish Sun hurtled through space en route to disaster. The shields had been turned off, all power was running to the ion engines. Lasers crisscrossed the deadly expanse of space ahead of Cronin.   
"Sir both dreadnoughts have disengaged and are preparing to make a jump. They need coordinates. Shall I begin the transmission?" called out Gilmar.  
"You may. Prepare to route all power to the shields as soon as we are between the destroyer and the rest of the fleet."  
"We will be there in less then a minute. Preparing to reroute power...now!"  
  
The ship shuddered to a halt and hung in space for a moment. For one minute the Akurish Sun was at perfect peace. She floated in space gracefully for a beat up ancient warship, and not a laser touched her.  
A moment later the Akurish Sun was a flurry of activity. Escape pods launched from the hull of the ship giving it the appearance of tears. Many of the shuttles shot towards the bulk carrier who was quickly picking up as many as possible. The remaining Corvette was busy trying to keep TIE's off the carrier. A few short minutes later both were gone, headed directly for Endor, towards liberty and freedom.  
As the Carrier left the system the Imperial Star Destroyer pounded the Akurish Sun with its entire range of weaponry. In an amazingly short time the Akurish Sun was reduced to scrap and whatever legacy it had left was now dead and gone. But the Destroyers sensors still picked up lifeform's aboard the dying vessel.  
Several boarding vessels rocketed towards the wreck. They collected what they were searching for and returned to their mothership. After that the remaining Imperial ships left the deserted solar system and headed back to more mainstream space. Soon there was nothing left of the engagement except a burnt out rebel dreadnought drifting towards a volcanic planet, on its last orbit. 


End file.
